Expanding Biddeford company purchases Harrison calibration firm

Courtesy / LAW Calibration

Louis Waterhouse, founder and president of LAW Calibration, a seven-year-old Biddeford-based calibration company that has purchased QC Services in Harrison. Together, the combined companies will be relocating to a new 14,000-square-foot laboratory facility in Saco sometime this fall.

Biddeford-based LAW Calibration LLC has acquired QC Services, a calibration lab based in Harrison with different capabilities and customers.

The acquisition includes QC Services' company name and all calibration standards, calibrators, analytical laboratory equipment, transportation vehicles and other proprietary assets. Terms were not disclosed.

"I have admired QC Services for years for its technical competency and expertise, and I am proud to serve its longstanding customers," Louis Waterhouse, founder and president of LAW Calibration, told Mainebiz in a phone interview. "We are excited to offer additional calibration capabilities to our existing and new customers."

The acquisition, Waterhouse said, blends two accredited calibration companies, each with strong technical expertise in a broad spectrum of services and a total of 10 employees. He's planning to bring both labs under one roof in a 14,000-square-foot facility on Spring Hill Road in Saco. The property is under contract and he expects to close the deal this month, with the move of the two labs expected to take place this fall.

The service areas for the two companies are mostly distinct.

LAW Calibration specializes in calibrating testing and measuring equipment used in construction, industrial, manufacturing, electrical and electronics applications, while QC Services specializes in calibrating equipment used in water and wastewater treatment plants, in analytical, research and medical equipment manufacturing and in universities and college laboratories.

Together, Waterhouse said, LAW Calibration's expanded services will provide a one-stop-shop for all calibration needs.

About LAW Calibration

Waterhouse founded LAW Calibration in 2010 after a stint in the U.S. Air Force during which he learned the science of measurement, or metrology, working in a precision measurement equipment laboratory.

Every tool that performs a measurement needs to be calibrated, he said, pointing out that his calibration business plays an important role in just about every aspect of daily life.

"Think about the water bottle you pick up at the store — a machine measures out the right amount of plastic to make it, another one applies the right amount of torque to spin the cap on, and another one tests the quality of the water that goes inside," he said. "All of those machines require calibration, as do other measuring hand tools. We now can offer calibration services in the field of analytical instruments, balances, dimensional, electrical/electronics, force, mass, torque, and much more."

LAW Calibration's new facility in Saco will have easy access to Interstate 95.

Waterhouse said the company has grown rapidly to become the largest provider of calibration services in Northern New England.

"We'll be going beyond northern New England," he said. "We have plans in place for the next year to bring in new customers from all across the country."

Waterhouse said reaction by employees to the acquisition and consolidation of the two companies "has been very positive."

Once the companies have moved into the new facility, Waterhouse added, he plans to provide additional training to all his workers to ensure that they are all cross-trained.

"We're making a significant investment in adding to our capabilities," he said. "We're constantly looking at ways to improve and grow."